Three Sides: The real story behind the Labyrinth
by Dearlady2002
Summary: It is said that all stories have two sides; a Good and a Bad, a Light and a Dark, Honorable and Evil. But what happens when you are not told the entire story, because the story has three sides? One good, one evil, and one caught in the middle? You find so
1. Intro and Chapter 1

So you've seen the movie, read the versions of the screenplay, and own all the books…

_But you still don't know what happened. _

It is said that all stories have two sides; a good and a bad, Light and Dark, Honorable and Evil.

But what happens when you are not told the entire story, because the story has _three_ sides? One good, one evil, and one caught in the middle?

You find someone who knows what happened…

Three Sides: The **real **story behind the Labyrinth.

Started October 16, 2004

Written and retold by Andrea 'Dearlady' Brink

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

**Author's Note: **This is a story that has been bugging me for a long time- has been pounding away at my skull, demanding to be let out. As incredible as that pressure is, however, it's also demanding it be told correctly- to settle the scores once and for all.

You know the story of _Labyrinth_; how Sarah, through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, defeats the evil Goblin King to win her brother back from the brink of becoming a goblin..

_Absolute rubbish_. All of it. A skewed storyline; large, gaping chunks of _crucial_ facts omitted.. This, though.. This is Jareth's story. Not the man who is the Goblin King, who rules over the stinking city of goblins, but the man behind that whole facade- _Jareth_. The man who has been through a great deal of his own dangers untold and hardships unnumbered.. This story is a story retold, the _real _story behind a story you already know.

This is the view from the _other_ side of the crystal..

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 1

_Boots pounding on the hard stone floors beneath him, Jareth strode deeper into the bowels of the castle, headed towards the dungeon. He was furious. And though he would never admit it to anyone, even himself, he was scared. _

_He turned the last corner and waved the burly guard aside. Pulling open the heavy barred door, he stormed inside and slammed it shut behind him, the force of his wrath making it rattle on its hinges. _

"_What have you done to me?" he demanded angrily of the dark shape before him._

_A voice, hidden in the shadows of the corner of the room, laughed._

"_What's wrong, my dear king?" the feminine voice asked. _

_If this was a joke, her little way of 'subtly' reminding him of their plight, it wasn't very funny. Jareth reached a gloved hand into a cloth bag he held, then withdrew it. The small, battered body of a gray field mouse lay upon the smooth black leather._

. . . . . . . .

Jareth woke with a start and immediately winced at the bright light entering the large windows on the other side of his bedchamber. A quick wave of his hand sent the curtains dancing across their rods to cover the glass, dousing the room in darkness again.

He lay still for a moment, listening to the sound of his own furiously beating heart pounding in his chest, his entire body shaking slightly. The silk sheets beneath him, again, were drenched in sweat, the darker spots standing out against the royal red color of the fabric.

He slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. He had a horrible, acrid taste in the back of his mouth, and a thin film of moisture covered his face. Wearily, he pushed his hair out of his face and drug his hand across his mouth, then swore when he lowered his hand and saw it was speckled with blood.

Another one, then. If he'd kept count the numbers would be far higher than he'd ever care to admit. And there was no denying it, the urges were getting stronger, and more frequent. And he was remembering less and less every time. He had to find out how to stop this madness, or at least learn to control it, before..

No. He wouldn't even think it. Time was running short, he'd simply deal with it.

Physically exhausted from lack of sleep the night before, he lay back down to try to get a few more hours rest. The scant daylight filtering in through the curtains reflected off the curiously-shaped silver and gold pendant around his neck as his breathing slowed again.

On a simple wooden perch in the corner of the room, a pale colored barn owl opened one eye a sliver to watch the king, then closed it again, buried its head further down into its feathers, and went back to sleep.

. . . . . . . .

_Jareth felt a pair of eyes watching him and scanned the room full of dancers as he nonchalantly adjusted his gloves. There, by the entrance; a woman in a long white dress. She wore a mask, so he could not see her entire face, but that length of dark brown curls cascading down her back was unmistakable. He waded through the sea of people and bowed low to his wife._

"_My dearest lady, you look radiant tonight," he complimented her, holding out his hand for hers. She had outdone herself this time; the long white dress plunged low down the front then flowed gracefully away from her waist like a waterfall. Her mask, a delicate array of feathers and fine ribbons, had been made into the visage of a white barn owl. _

_She loved these masquerade balls they held yearly, and he knew she always put a lot of time and effort into her dresses. She would never let him see her beforehand, he always had to wait until she arrived at the ball in costume. Of course, she never saw his outfits beforehand, either. _

"_Why thank you," she replied, returning his bow. "You wore blue," she stated, placing her white-gloved hand into his black-clad one as they walked further into the room. He nodded. Blue was her favorite color on him. He'd even had streaks of blue added to his blonde hair for the evening. They picked up the tempo of the music being played, and seamlessly joined in the dancing. _

_They enjoyed themselves for hours, and kept dancing until the musicians paused for a break. Amidst the clapping Jareth quickly led his wife to one of the secluded rooms that surrounded the ballroom. _

"_Let me get a better look at you," he said, pulling off his horned goblin mask. _

"_What you really mean is 'since you look so pretty, let me mess you up a bit.'" she laughed, but carefully untied her mask and removed it. She raised an eyebrow and twirled around in place. _

"_Well?" her dark brown eyes twinkled._

_Jareth looked her over thoughtfully, then grabbed her and pulled her close to him. _

"_I think," he whispered in her ear, "that I cannot wait until later to remove that beautiful dress you've made." He nibbled on her ear lightly. Before she could scold him he heard the musicians start playing again. They both quickly put their masks back on and joined in the dancing again._

_They twirled slowly, it was one of her favorite songs. Jareth knew it, and quietly sung the words to her as they danced._

"_But I'll be there for you, as the world falls down, falling, as the world falls down." _. . . . . . . .

Jareth woke with a start. Melancholic, he looked over at the empty space next to him on the large bed for a moment, then resignedly turned over and lay back down. He quickly fell back to sleep.

. . . . . . . .

_The black-haired gypsy woman looked up at him from the trash heap she stood on, her stance defiant, her face unafraid. Behind him, somewhere in the Goblin City, a bell tower struck the final thirteenth note. _

"_Come to gloat, have you?" Eselda sneered at him. _

"_No, quite the contrary. I've come to ask you a question," he replied calmly. _

_Most of his subjects, whether they liked him or not, would agree that Jareth was a fair and just king. Though he ruled his kingdom with an iron fist- something necessary considering the majority of his peasants were of the goblin variety- he sincerely tried to rule with the best interest of his subjects at heart. He dealt out Justice as often as he did Mercy, and many years of dealing with ill-behaved goblins had blessed him with a veritable fountain of patience._

_His patience, however, had really been tested to the limit with this one. When he had first confronted her after she'd wished her eight-month old infant away, she had tried threatening Jareth to have him returned. When that failed, she tried begging, crying as she pleaded her case to him. She had attempted seduction, too. She would be considered beautiful by most men; her dark hair, gently tanned skin, almond-shaped brown eyes and thin build most would have found irresistible, but Jareth was not "most men," and her charm did not work on him. Pity, that, for her sake._

_Besides, Jareth had immediately vowed, deep down inside the heart that she swore he did not have, that this woman would not get her child back, even if she did somehow beat his labyrinth. When the goblins had brought the small boy to him crying- most children did- wrapped up in a blanket, he could already see a bruise forming on the child's arm. After a few moments of disbelief, and a second to unwrap the blanket, he found the boy was covered in them. Knowing that Jareth would have their hides if a child was harmed, the goblins were always very careful with the ones wished away to him. The woman was abusive by nature, and apparently took her frustrations and resentment out on her child. Her defenseless child. He'd spent the first hour alone with the child casting a protective spell over him, ensuring that his mother would never harm him again. _

"_The child stays here," he told her in an icy tone that would brook no argument. "You, however, are free to return to your home Above if you choose. No one will remember the child, you will be free to live your life as you will." _

_Eselda looked at him but said nothing._

"_Or you are free to wander this world until your last days. The choice is yours, and whatever your decision, it will be final."_

_The woman looked up at him, then over his shoulder to the castle beyond the city. _

"_The child is not there. Within hours of receiving him I'd placed him with a couple who would care for him as their own." The woman's eyes flashed with anger yet she still said nothing. Finally, after a few moments of silence had passed, she stood and faced him._

"_You will regret this," she spat, then walked away from him down one of the dusty paths leading out of the city. Jareth watched her until it was clear she was not returning. He'd have to keep an eye on that one. Shrugging, he disappeared from the spot. _

. . . . . . . .

Jareth rolled over and finally slept more deeply.

. . . . . . . .

_There was a loud argument heard above the music, and a hunched, ragged figure brusquely entered the ballroom, shoving guests and furniture alike out of the way in its' effort to reach the couple dancing in the center of the throng. Protests of 'I must speak with the king!' could be overheard. Jareth stepped toward the interruption as the music died around him. _

"_What is the meaning of this!" he demanded, ripping off his mask and glaring at the grubby intruder. The point of the night was to remain masked- as royalty and commoners alike mingled and imagined they were something they were not- but he wanted to make his point, and could only do so if he was seen as King. No goblins were ever allowed in this section of the castle, especially during the Balls. _

_Having reached the center of the room, the being, apparently a goblin by the smell, looked up at him from its mass of filth and tangles._

"_Twenty years ago, you stole a babe, when the night was young and green. _

'_You will regret this' the mother yelled, and her revenge on you she deemed _

_would be too sweet, and far too neat, to last for just one day;_

_she wanted something special, something to make you _pay_. _

_An eternity spent in the dungeons? Deep in the castle's bowel?_

_Oh, no. But then one day she said 'I've got it!'" _

_Her head craned to look past Jareth, to his wife dressed in white._

"_I'll turn _her_ into an owl."_

_Jareth threw an exploding crystal at the goblin to distract and blind it, and dived for his wife, but he was a second too late. A handful of shimmery dust hit her full on with a flash of light. _

_She screamed. _

_Even in his nightmares, Jareth could remember that scream. It was the tortured scream of a lover realizing she'll never again see her love, the scream of a body being ruthlessly forced into another shape, a scream that began in a Fae woman's range and ended as an owl's defensive hiss. _

_Jareth hit the floor holding nothing more than an empty dress and a feathered mask. A pale- colored barn owl flew out of the material and landed on one of the crystal chandeliers, hissing her distress, wings spread in alarm. The goblin, from where it lay stunned on the floor from Jareth's crystal, laughed. _

"_It took me years," a suddenly different- and feminine- voice stated, "but I learned how to harness some of the magic that grows rampant in this world," Jareth's eyes narrowed at this. Goblins had no interest in magic, and were much too thick to learn how to control it. The figure reached up and ripped off her face, which was, in truth, only a well-made mask. _

_Grinning triumphantly, Eselda stood to her full height, shaking off the rags she wore over her clothes. Jareth's eyes narrowed in anger._

"_For ages I have lived among your city walls," she said, her voice growing harsher and louder as she continued. "I moved from one section to another, speaking with the gardeners, the guards, the brownies, the trash people; anyone who would speak to me. I learned the secrets of the castle, at least this part of it, and that our dear King had finally gotten married." Black, hard eyes stared at Jareth. "And alas, that they have no heir," she continued, mockingly. Jareth stiffened slightly at this comment. Everyone knew it took Fae couples years to be able to conceive. That's why so many of the human babies wished away to Jareth were not actually turned into goblins, they were adopted into families throughout his kingdom. This woman, apparently, did not know that, the tone of her voice clearly implying that he was, in some way, inadequate._

"_I should have known," Jareth glared at her, distaste coloring his tone. "What's the matter? Beating a poor child wasn't enough for you, so you had to go for bigger prey?" He shrugged, and looked at a few of his larger-sized friends. They quickly stepped forward and seized the woman by the arms. "Well, a handful of fairy dust should be easy enough to correct, if we can get-"_

"_Fool!" She spat at Jareth. "That was not fairy dust! It was Majeesh!" she laughed as she saw Jareth's face register just a second of worry before he schooled his features again. _Majeesh_ dust- the condensed form of the magic from a thousand wishes and dreams and hopes and fears- was a terribly powerful, and black, form of magic. Making Majeesh, yet alone using it, was an offense that was punishable by death. Jareth wasn't even sure how she learned to produce it- the last known maker of it had been put to death nearly a century earlier._

"_For stealing my only son, and not even giving me a fair chance to win him back, you have one year to find an heir of your own. _One year_! The child must be wished away, and you cannot threaten or harm the girl to make her give the child up. She must be given the chance to run your Labyrinth. And you can not tell her of your plight!" she grinned._

"_Take her away!" Jareth barked at the men holding her. "Put her in a cell. Guarded."_

"_And Majeesh dust takes several years to distill, so you cannot change her back in time!" Eselda gleefully shouted at them as she was drug away. Guests watched the men go, then stood and looked towards Jareth, unsure of what to do next. _

_He looked down at the limp, empty dress and mask still in his hands, then slowly draped them over the back of a nearby empty chair. _

"_You all may return to your homes if you wish," he said quietly, addressing the crowd, "or continue with the ball and stay the night. Everyone will be given rooms who requires them." Looking up at the chandelier, high above, he called out to his wife._

"_Let's go, Olwyn." _

_She flew down to his shoulder and they left the room_.

. . . . . . . .

**Author's Note: **I'm terribly sorry about the poor quality of the goblin's poem earlier this chapter. While this is all being told to me from "the horse's mouth," if you will, Jareth's memory in parts of this is a little faulty.. I'm left to fill in the blanks, and as it were, to make up poems.

But still, the gist of what she said is there.

Please review, Jareth has a large ego, after all, and needs to know that his story is being listened to!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jareth finally woke again mid-afternoon. Even now the room was that non-descript shade of nothingness that could herald anywhere from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon.

Almost a year ago.. And he could still remember it all as if it happened just yesterday… He shook his head and tried to put the nightmarish dreams behind him.

Groggily, he pushed back the bedcovers and furs and stood up.

He trudged over to the stand in the corner of the room where the owl was sleeping. Reaching up, he stroked its' back gently with two fingers. The owl gave a soft noise, and opened its large black eyes.

"Good morning, Olwyn," he said to her and planted a kiss on her forehead. She leaned into it, then flew up to his shoulder, head-butting him affectionately on the cheek.

He walked over to the large glass doors of his room and pushed them open. They led out onto a terrace, which overlooked the hedge maze and his private section of gardens. The day was warm and overcast, though neither really noticed. Olwyn hopped down his shoulder to sit near his wrist.

"We failed, again, last time," he said to her, stroking her back. "The woman did not believe in the truth of the book. She wouldn't make the wish."

She looked up at him with her large black eyes. She blinked, once.

"I'm afraid this is our last chance, love.." he whispered. Even in owl form, Olwyn could tell Jareth was much more worried than he was letting on. Though stuck in the shape of an owl, she was thankful that she had at least retained her consciousness, her intelligence.

Holding her out on his arm at chest height, Jareth looked at his feathered wife.

"There's one left. One last book, one last girl, one last baby." Liquid black eyes met his. "We _have_ to secure this child."

Blink.

"No matter the means…"

Olwyn dipped her head slightly. She knew the importance. She'd been spending almost every waking moment that wasn't spent with Jareth watching this girl.

_She_ believed. Olwyn _knew she did._

_Giving him one last head-butt, she launched herself from his wrist, wings beating furiously. Jareth watched her fly away into the cloudy sky. _

_. . . . . . . . . . ._

_Olwyn flew on, watching as the land beneath her changed from the stone and hedge maze she knew so well, to the dusty, weed-choked area beyond the gates of the Labyrinth; the Borderlands. She flew on, further and further, listening to the magic around her, waiting for that moment when she would cross. _

_It finally came, and she suddenly disappeared from the sky._

_. . . . . . . . . . ._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jareth turned and ran one hand through his hair, frustrated.

They'd tried nearly every tactic they could think of to try and win one of the few children wished away to him through the past year, but to no avail. Jareth knew, however, from sending Olwyn out to spy on this girl, that she did believe in their book. She practiced it daily, reciting the lines and acting out the scenes, even dressing up with costumes over her school clothes. The fact that she'd done this with many books and plays before didn't concern him- the only thing that interested him was that she _believed_.

She believed in the story, in the characters in it, she believed in _him_. And what she needed to see was a _King_, not just a desperate man trying to save himself and his wife.

Jareth walked over to his closet and started looking for something suitable to wear. As important as costumes were to the girl, he couldn't show up in sleeping pants with messy hair. He had to _look _the part of Goblin King, had to _play_ the part for her. And it was going to be the performance of his life- literally.

As he rummaged through the closet, his mind went back to that ill-fated day. He knew now, that their only saving grace had been Eselda choosing to turn Olwyn into an owl. By changing her into an Aboveground bird, something not native to their world, she had combined their magics, and inadvertently made it possible for Olwyn to travel Above whenever she wished. Olwyn's curse could perhaps be their stroke of luck.

Since Jareth could only travel above when Called, he immediately set Olwyn to find as many potential girls and babies as possible. When they had all failed for one reason or another, and it had fallen down to this last girl, he had Olwyn set her sights there- trying to learn as much as possible about her. They had left her that book, and had studied her for nearly a month, watching her rehearse her stories as her belief in them grew.

Olwyn was sure she would Call on him tonight.

And it wouldn't be long now, Jareth knew.. They were down to the last day of their one year limit. If Eselda's magic was true, and he thought it was, one way or another, by the end of the night, this would all be over, whether the girl Called on him or not..

Looking past the many expensive and ornate items hanging neatly in rows, his hand snaked forward and seized a particular hanger off of the bar.

This would be perfect. Regal, and just a bit dark and threatening as well..

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Olwyn reappeared in a sky that was a dazzling blue, overcast in areas with gray- the promise of rain to come. She dipped her wings and dove low, skimming in across the treetops, and gently perched on a stone pillar in the center of a park.

No sooner than she had landed, a girl, dressed in a pale green dress with a flower circlet on her head, came running across the small footbridge in front of her.

"Give me the child," the girl said. She was attractive enough, Olwyn thought, dark haired with brown eyes. Very similar to herself, at least, before she was trapped in her current form.

"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city, to take back the child that you have stolen…" the girl rattled on, unaware of the black eyes watching her from a few yards away.

"For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great."

Thunder rattled overhead, low and ominous.

"For my will is as strong as yours.. and my kingdom as great.." she trailed off quietly, her voice sounding a bit uncertain at the end.

"Damn." she said, and reached in the large sleeve of her dress, pulling out a small red book that Olwyn knew very well. Jareth had written it, had made several of them actually, and she herself had all but delivered it to the girl; conveniently stashing it near one of the paths she knew the girl liked to take on her way to the park.

"Oh, I can never remember that line," she murmured to herself as she flipped to that point in the book. "'_You have no power over me_,'" she sighed.

Thunder boomed again, louder, and Olwyn wondered if it was a storm caused by the magic they'd been pulling Aboveworld, or one of the genuine variety. No matter, either way it would run its course then disappear. She looked back over her shoulder in time to see the girl go running back down the path towards her house; a giant, shaggy gray and white dog in tow.

Olwyn sat, perched on the stone obelisk, as the rain poured down around her. She knew right where the girl was going, so it was of no use to slowly fly above her as the girl ran home. She would give her a few minutes, then go.

Her sharp ears heard a slight noise, rustling the damp grass under the pines. A small, gray field mouse scurried along the tree trunks, caught out in the rain and trying to get home to its' nest before it was completely soaked.

Well, we wouldn't want that, she thought, and dove, talons spread.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A few minutes later Olwyn landed in the branches of the oak tree outside Sarah's bedroom window. Though she could not hear what the girl was saying, she saw her roll her eyes and then go lay down on her bed. A door slam outside confirmed that the girl's parents were leaving, climbing into one of the large metal contraptions that must be their version of a carriage. The girl and her brother were now alone in the house.

Olwyn looked back up to the girl's window and saw her disappear down the hallway. Quickly flying around the house, she perched outside of the parent's bedroom window. The girl was by the crib, holding her crying brother and looking extremely annoyed.

"… so one night, when Baby had been particularly cruel to her, she called on the goblins for help."

_In some nearly forgotten corner of the castle, a sleeping nest of goblins stirred.  
"Listen," one said. _

Toby still cried, but Sarah continued on.

"'Say your right words,' the goblins said, 'and we'll take the baby to the Goblin City, and you will be free.'"

_"Ahhhh.." the goblins, all awake, sighed collectively. _

From outside, Olwyn watched, and waited. Where was Jareth? Would he come? The goblins were awake! She could sense it, even from this far away! When Olwyn saw the girl's lips form the words "goblin king," she quickly made up her mind, and launched herself from the tree, quickly flying away.

"I wish.." Sarah began.

_"She's going to say it!" a goblin exclaimed._

_ By now, as much as Jareth had tried to keep it quiet, news of his and Olwyn's plight had spread through the kingdom._

_ "Say what?" one dopey goblin asked. Apparently news hadn't reached _everyone.

_"Shut up!" the others quickly hissed, straining to hear the girls' words._

_ "Sorry," Dopey replied, and was quickly answered by echoes of "shhh!" from the other goblins. _

_ "You shut up," another said. _

_ "_Listen. _She's going to say the words!" the first goblin replied._

Sarah held the child over her head.  
"I can bear it no longer! Goblin King, Goblin King, wherever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!"

Toby kept crying. Thunder boomed outside and lightning lit the room as the storm outside worsened, but otherwise nothing happened.

_"No.."_

_ "That's not it." They all groaned and shook their heads. "Where'd she learn that rubbish? It doesn't even start with 'I wish.'"  
All that excitement for nothing._

"Toby, stop it!" Rolling her eyes, Sarah brought him back down and sat him on her hip. "Oh, I wish I _did _know what to say to make the goblins take you away." She told him.

_"'I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now.' That's not hard , is it?" The first goblin sighed, exasperated with the girl. _

Sarah looked up, a distant expression on her face. Almost as if she'd heard the goblins.

"I wish.. I wish.." She looked down at Toby, crying.

_"Did she say it?" Dopey interrupted, again._

_ "Shut up!" All the goblins replied. Dopey quickly covered his mouth._

Sarah looked at the still screaming Toby, perhaps realizing how childish the whole thing was- calling on some storybook goblin king to come take her brother- and quickly laid him down in the bed, and pulled the covers up to his chest. Let him keep screaming, she just wanted to be away from him. She walked to the doorway then turned back to him.

"I wish the goblins _would _come and take you away." She flicked the light switch off. "Right now."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, my apologies because this one is a bit of a "boring" chapter- but it's giving motives and new perspectives that you don't see in the movie. More is in the works.

**Shatteredheart:** We'll have to see, wont we? And no, I _will_ tell you that Olwyn is not planning on hurting Sarah- she's her only chance at salvation at this point, why would she want to mess that up?

**Bookangel:** Here's a bit more for you. :- )

**Dreamlabyrinth:** thank you as always for your kind words and support. I'm really excited about this story too, though I'm still hoping I can retell it correctly, and well

**Alorindanya:** "Oh no. I hope this doesn't mean what I think it means but...it must be done." Um.. I'm not sure I know what you mean. laughs Mind explaining so I can reply with more than a "wha..?"

Enjoy!

Andrea

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 4

Sarah flicked off the bedroom light and walked out into the hallway towards her bedroom. A few feet away from the door it dawned on her that the baby had stopped crying, and quite suddenly. She turned around and walked slowly back to the bedroom door.

"Toby?" She asked quietly, sounding a little scared. Lightning flashed outside and lit up her face. "Toby, are you all right?"

Panicking slightly from the lack of noise from his crib, she flicked the bedroom light on, but nothing happened, the storm must have knocked out the power. She flicked it several more times, then gave up. "Why aren't you crying?" Deep in her imagination she thought she knew, but she thought it was crazy.

A goblin laughed and stirred under the covers in the crib, then scuttled away in the darkness, unseen and unheard. Sarah kept walking slowly forward, reached her hand into the crib and grabbed the covers. Yanking them off, she gasped- the crib was empty. Lightning flashed again outside and she heard a scrabbling at the window.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Olwyn flew up to the window, trying to see what was going on inside. Was she too late? She saw the empty bed and knew the goblins had already been here, had taken the baby. The girl jumped and saw her outside, and Olwyn saw that not all of the goblins had left yet- several were still inside the room or in the hallway, moving around and laughing.

Jareth had better get here soon, Olwyn thought, before one of the goblins decides it wants to play games with her. Though essentially harmless, goblins were incredibly stupid and loved to play tricks on each other- they often were injured, sometimes badly, while 'playing games.'

She beat against the window, rapping a tattoo out- "Don't you _dare _hurt her," she seemed to say. Clawing frantically at the door handle, she finally wiggled it enough to open. She flew inside, ignoring the gust of wind that followed her, while the girl covered her head.

Silly thing, _I _wouldn't harm _you,_ she thought.

Flying past the girl, she circled the room, and flapped her wings at the goblins, making them hide again, making them stay put. She heard movement and felt a sudden influx of magic outside the window, and content the goblins would not move, flew back outside to wait and watch from the tree.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jareth appeared in the open doorway, rising up to his full height as the girl uncovered her face and looked up in shock. He was dressed all in black- his first plan, Olwyn knew, was to intimidate the girl- scare her away from her claim on her brother.

Sarah stared at him, eyes wide. "You're him, aren't you?" She finally managed. "You're the Goblin King." Jareth gave her a slight grin; 'in the flesh,' it seemed to say.

Sarah looked up at him, with tear-blurred eyes. "I want my brother back, please, if it's all the same."

Jareth crossed his arms across his chest and arched an eyebrow. "What's said is said," he told her, seriously.

"But I didn't mean it." she blurted, apparently shocked that he would not immediately bow to her requests. Didn't he love the girl in the story? And wasn't the girl in the story her?

"Oh, you didn't?" he sounded amused, as if that one fact made all the difference in the world.

"Please," Sarah pleaded, "where is he?"

Putting on an arrogant air, Jareth adjusted his gloves. "You know very well where he is," he told her, his tone of voice saying he had more important things to do than answer this silly girl's stupid questions.

"Please bring him back," she begged. "Please." He could hear her getting more desperate.

Deciding to give the intimidation one last try, Jareth walked closer to her, and made himself seem tall next to her. Made her seem unimportant next to a _King_.

"Sarah.. Go back to your room.. Play with your toys and your costumes.." he started softly in a gentle voice. "Forget about the baby." he ended with a firm tone that carried an undercurrent of threat.

Sarah looked at him, glancing from eye to eye, as she considered his words. "I can't."

Intimidation wasn't working on her, Jareth thought. Time to try something else.

"I've brought you a gift." he said, and formed a crystal on his fingertips. The girl eyed him suspiciously.

"What is it?" she asked, interested and curious, but not forgetting the issue at hand.

"It's a crystal," he started twirling it from hand to hand, "nothing more. But if you turn it this way.. and look into it.. it will show you your dreams.." His voice hardened again slightly. "But this is not a gift for an ordinary girl who takes care of a screaming baby." He tried appealing to her ego, tried to make her feel special. After all, wasn't she the girl in the story that the Goblin King had fallen in love with?

Sarah watched the crystal intently, then looked at him, silent.

"Do you want it?" He held it out to her while she silently looked on. He knew she wanted to reach out and touch it.. Just to see a glimpse of her dreams, she'd give anything.

"Then forget the baby." He grinned slightly, knowing how badly she wanted it.

Wrenching her eyes from the crystal, Sarah finally looked up at him.

"I can't. It isn't that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me, but I want my brother back," she told him, and he thought she was trying to convince herself as well. "He must be so scared."

"Sarah," he said, growing slightly impatient. Would scaring her work? He held up his hand and the crystal suddenly changed to a red and black scaled snake. She held her ground, but looked at him. He uncurled it from his hand and held it out at it's full length.

"Don't defy me," he warned her, and tossed the snake at her neck.

Sarah gasped and wrestled to get it off her, and it fell to the floor, changing from a harmless handkerchief to a goblin once it landed. It laughed and scuttled away. Other goblins laughed from around the room, but when she turned around to face them they hid again.

"You're no match for me, Sarah," he told her, a touch of humor in his voice.

"But I have to have my brother back!"

Jareth tossed his head as if to say _fine_.

"He's there, in my castle," he told her, pointing out the bedroom window. "Do you still want to look for him?"

Sarah looked wearily at him, perhaps expecting another snake, and walked past him to the window. Instead of the neighbor's backyard and some trees, the window now overlooked a large, mazed hill, with a castle set on the peak, some distance away.

"Do you still want to look for him?" He asked her, already knowing her answer. He transported them both to the hilltop, simultaneously damning the ancient laws that were written regarding victim's rights during kidnapping trials. He had to give her the chance, if she wished. There was no way around it.

"Is that the castle beyond the Goblin City?" Sarah asked, turning again to face him.

"Turn back, Sarah.. Turn back before it's too late," he warned her.

"I can't. Don't you see that I can't?"

"What a pity," he said honestly.

Sarah turned and took in the land before her again. "It doesn't look that far."

"It's further than you think," Jareth said, now right behind her and uncomfortably close. "Time is short," his breath whispered across her neck. She looked out across the land.

Jareth pointed to a clock that seemed to be growing out of a nearby tree. "You have thirteen hours in which to solve the labyrinth before your baby brother becomes one of us.. Forever.." he faded out completely. "Such a pity."

Sarah looked around, and saw that he was really gone. She was alone on the hill.

"The labyrinth.." she eyed the land. "It doesn't look that hard.." she added bravely, partly in case he was still around, listening to her, but partly just to hear it herself.

"Well.. Come on, feet," she said, and started down the hill.

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Jareth reappeared in the throne room, and collapsed onto his throne. Conjuring up a crystal, he looked into it.

Ahhh.. Yes, the dwarf.

Jareth had set Sarah on the top of the hill in a direct path to where Hoggle would be waiting for her. Jareth had called him in earlier that morning and told him to stay there; he had a guest coming, and he was to delay her, lead her astray. Jareth did _not_ want her getting to the center of the labyrinth, did Hoggle understand?

Once he was quickly assured that Hoggle did, Jareth had sent the little man off on his task.

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Please R&R.


	5. Chapter 5

It's been way too long since I've updated this. Really everyone- don't hesitate to poke me once in a while or give me a swift kick to the…

Awesome. New chapter. It's short but I'm getting there. ;)

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Chapter 5

Sarah ran down to the bottom of the hill and abruptly stopped, rocking back on her heels in surprise. A short, dwarven man stood with his back to her, urinating in a small garden pond surrounded by weeds.

"Excuse me?" she said, more to announce her presence to him before either of them were surprised further.

"Oh, excuse me!" he said, jumping, and quickly zipped up his pants and turned around to face her. "Oh, it's you," he said grumpily, bent to pick up a small spray can at his feet, and walked away.

"Excuse me," Sarah tried again, "but I have to get through this labyrinth. Can you help me?"

Ignoring her, the man eyed some bugs flying by like a cat looking at a newly-discovered mouse nest. Wondering why he would be so interested in bugs, Sarah squinted and saw they were not bugs, but fairies.

"Oh, how sweet.." Enchanted, she stared as one fairy flew by in front of her face.

"Fifty-seven!" The dwarf shot forward, wielding his spray can, and a fairy fell to the ground. Sarah gasped.

"How could you?" she scolded, and hunched down to pick up the dying fairy as the man sneered. "Poor thing," she said to the fairy, but glared at the man. "You monster. Ow!" she jumped and dropped the fairy. "It bit me!"

"What did you _expect_ fairies to do?" the man sneered. This was fun.

"I thought they did nice things, like granting wishes," she explained, examining her hand. The skin wasn't broken, but it sure hurt.

"Huh? Shows what you know, don't it?" He eyed another fairy and chased after it. "Fifty-eight." Fifty-eight! The King would be pleased with that number; that's more than any other gardener had got in one day yet! And at two pence a fairy sprayed? That's.. a hundred and.. well, it's a lot more money than he's had lately. Pleased with himself, he nearly forgot about the girl behind him.

"You're horrible!" she said to him, still thinking about the fairy and his miserable attitude.

"Huh? No I ain't. I'm Hoggle." He stuck a thumb to his chest. "Who are you?"

"Sarah," she replied, quietly and almost defiantly.

"That's what I thought," he replied indifferently. Jareth had told him _all_ about her..

"_She's to be led in circles around the maze, but don't let her discover what you are up to, or she'll fight you. Have her wander for hours, take her back to the beginning, I do not care, but I want her kept away from the center of the labyrinth.."_ Jareth had instructed him. "_She's a threat to my goals and right now that is something __**I will not tolerate**__."_

Hoggle shivered at the memory of that meeting, then saw another fairy, and darted forward again.

"Fifty-nine." Almost there! He just needed one more!

"Do you know where the door to the labyrinth is?" Sarah persisted, following him.

"Maybe," he answered, looking for more fairies.

"Well, where is it?" Sarah demanded, growing impatient.

Hoggle ran forward, eager to get another fairy before it flew up out of his vertically-challenged range.

"Sixty! Woo hah!" he exclaimed, jumping in the air. Yes! He'll get that bonus two shillings now! And just as soon as he was paid, he was going straight down to the Junk Ladies in the Goblin District to see what baubles they had for sale this month. He was amassing quite a collection, he thought proudly as he patted the mass of trinkets at his side.

"I said, 'where is it?'" Sarah repeated herself, growing grumpier by the minute.

"Where is what?" Hoggle asked, looking around for more fairies.

"The door!" Sarah wanted to scream. This was so unfair.

"What door?" Hoggle asked playfully. This was _really_ fun.

"It's hopeless asking you anything." She rolled her eyes, frustrated.

"Not if you ask the right questions." Hoggle replied, following the outer wall of the labyrinth as he looked for fairies. She'd never get anywhere if she kept up this way. Jareth didn't need _him_ to lead her astray, she'd do it well enough on her own.

Resignedly, as if finally realizing Hoggle was her only chance at help, Sarah tried again. "How do I get into the labyrinth?"

Hoggle stopped suddenly, and straightened. Now she was starting to get it. He turned around and walked towards her, and pointed past her to the wall. "You gets in there."

Sarah turned and saw two large wooden door open in the wall where seconds ago there had been none.

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Please read and review. Jareth is determined that his side of the story get out so I'm typing as fast as I can!


	6. Chapter 6

Another Chapter! Woot!

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Chapter 6

Jareth quietly opened the door to his bedchamber and looked in on the exhausted Olwyn sleeping on her perch in the corner; her face buried in her soft downy feathers. He turned to leave and caught sight of himself in the mirror on the wall. He frowned. The past year's stress had really been taking it's toll on him; he had started to see faint lines forming across his face. He should not be showing age lines like that for at least another three centuries. He frowned again, then looked again at Olwyn. Satisfied that she was all right, he made his way back to the throne room to wait until Sarah gave up her search for the child. The sooner she did, the sooner he could send her home, and claim the boy as his own, his heir.

The throne room was deafening. Goblins crawled everywhere, chased their livestock and generally went about their usual business, and Toby cried, scared and unsure of his new surroundings.

Jareth lounged across the throne, propped his legs up across one arm, and leaned back against the other. A very undignified, unkingly thing to do, but he didn't care. He ran a hand through his hair.

He was worried.

He had expected to just take the baby and leave- he'd expected Sarah to succumb to either his charm and gifts or his intimidation and threats, but neither had worked. She had not forfeited her rights to the boy, damn her. She wanted to run the labyrinth and try to save him, and this worried him. He didn't have the time to give her to attempt it. He'd had girls run it before- none had ever won but that wasn't the point- he simply didn't have the _time_. It was already 3:37. If she didn't give up her claim on the boy before her thirteen hours were up, it could very well come down to the last minute for him- he might be cursed for all eternity because his year's time limit ran out before her thirteen hours ended.

He sat and tapped a riding crop against his boot, distracted.

Of course, he realized that if she somehow hurt herself of her own accord, and were unable to continue, he could imply that she had failed, and had to leave. He could not directly harm her- Eselda had determined that, though he knew he couldn't have hurt her anyways- but he thought that would work. The rules were sometimes a little vague, so he wouldn't know for sure unless it actually happened. But he thought he could make her give up her claim to the child…

He forced himself to relax, realizing that it was probably only a matter of time before she gave up; she was spoiled and short-tempered. He had the baby, and everything was nearly as good as solved. She just needed to figure out that it was hopeless. Hoggle would alert him once she gave up. She just had to give up before the clock struck thirteen.

He sighed.

He honestly hadn't expected this girl to look so much like his now-bewitched Olwyn.. It was unsettling. And yet young Sarah unknowingly had the power to keep his love locked in that form forever, or release to her from her feathered prison.

One night, shortly after Olwyn had been changed, Jareth had woken to a strange noise in the bedroom. Cracking one eye carefully, he saw it was coming from the corner where Olwyn's stand stood. After a second he determined that it was coming from her- she was breathing unevenly and sharply, and making soft noises. After another minute he realized she was crying- or would have been if she were still in her Fae form. It about killed him, knowing that there was nothing he could do for her. She was in this predicament because of him and his often unpleasant but necessary job, and she was paying the consequences for it.

But at that point in time, nobody knew of their predicament, beyond his close friends who had been with him at the ball that night, and a few trusted advisors, doctors, and mages in the area. He'd called them in from all over his kingdom to try and help her, to change her back, but no one knew what kind of magic spell to use. They tried everything; noxious slimes and creatures, and various amputated animal body parts, even elemental energies, but it was all to no avail.

The magic kept her in the form of an owl.

Shrugging off his melancholy mood, he picked up Toby and sat down again on the throne.

"In nine hours and twenty-three minutes, you'll be mine!" he told the boy, suddenly cheered at this prospect. Beyond the fact that the boy currently cried a lot (most did, at this stage of the game), the boy was a healthy, alert baby, and would grow up fine and strong. A fitting heir to the crown, Jareth supposed.

"He has my eyes.."

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This chapter was written to the Magic Dance lyrics. Did you catch the references? Please R&R, for Jareth's sake of course. ;)


	7. Chapter 7

I've been reading a few good short fics this past week, but all of them are un-finished! Ugh! So frustrating.

Well, I decided that I ought to take a lesson from this frustration and at least post more on my _own_ stories, so as not to keep people waiting obscene amounts of time for updates.

So here ya go. Enjoy!

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Chapter 7

Jareth watched Toby play with the goblins while he sat on the throne, and occasionally glanced at a crystal ball as it showed him Sarah's progress through the maze. She'd chosen the correct doorway where the Red and Blue Guards protected one of the next entrance points to the inner maze, but she'd blindly missed the drop hole into the tunnel of Helping Hands. And it wasn't even as if the hole was hidden.

Jareth sighed, melancholy for a moment. He had had the Helping Hands installed in the maze for his beloved Olwyn, as a gift on her birthday about a decade or two ago. She had loved them- she could go down the tunnel and be suspended in air as they gave her a full body massage, or she could descend the tunnel of hands and go "rock climbing," back up them if she wished, which was something she had immediately taken to. When she was a younger child, her family had lived in the mountains and Jareth had known that was something she missed in the flat, arid land of the Labyrinth.

Jareth shook his head and watched as the girl fought with the Helping Hands, struggling to free herself from their grip, while they in turn, had to grip her harder to keep from dropping her into the oubliette below. Perhaps she would get trapped inside and finally give up, Jareth thought idly.

He stood and walked to the open window overlooking the goblin city and the Hedge Maze beyond it. One way or another, tonight both his and Olwyn's future would be changed forever. They would either win the infant Sarah had selfishly wished way, break the spell, and have an heir of their own, or they would be trapped as owls for eternity.

He had no doubt that if they did indeed lose the babe, he would be transformed into an owl along with Olwyn. He'd already been transforming into one at night for months, and he simply couldn't recall anymore how many times he had woken in the morning with rodent blood smeared across his face. He remembered the first time he had confronted Eselda in the dungeon with the battered mouse body he had found in his bed that morning, and the smug look on her face. This wasn't just about revenge anymore; she delighted at the predicament he had found himself in, she reveled in his worry and fear. He should have never confronted her, never given her the satisfaction of knowing he was furious with her.

He pounded his fist on the windowsill in frustration.

He had already taken precautionary measures for the safety of his kingdom in case they lost their battle tonight, for what owl could run an entire kingdom on it's own? Who, even goblins, would follow an owl as their monarch? The kingdom would fall into chaos and ruin without a leader.

Weeks prior, he had traveled to the kingdom beyond his lands, the mountainous Tindal region, and sought the help of their King. Thankfully, King Deriad was a friend of Jareth's, and was more than willing to offer whatever assistance he and his kingdom could, especially since Olwyn was once one of his people. Deriad's second-eldest son, Arioen, would be sent to act as King by Leave, and would rule Jareth's kingdom with the help of his father, until Jareth and Olwyn could be returned to power, if ever. It had been a sobering day, admitting to another, much less himself, that they may not win this battle, but it had had to be done.

Jareth turned and, once again, collapse into his throne in an undignified manner. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt the beginnings of a migraine starting, then froze as Hoghead's voice reached his ears from the crystal that sat on the arm of his throne.

"What is that, anyway?" the dwarf asked, a touch of cynicism in his voice.

"Plastic," Sarah replied, as she dangled the bracelet in front of the dwarf's eyes. Jareth's eyes narrowed as he watched the scene play out before him in the crystal. As he expected, Hoggle's face lit up.

"Oohhh." The dwarf shuffled forwards towards Sarah, drawn to the plastic beads the way a moth would be drawn to a fire. "Now, I don't promise nothin," he told her as he looked around nervously, "but, uh, I'll take you as far as I can, then you're on your own, right?"

"Right," Sarah nodded, and looking pleased, she placed the bracelet over his wrist. Jareth barely heard Hoggle's awed exclamation of "ooh, plastic!" as he threw the crystal onto the stone floor with all of his might. At the sound of the crystal shattering, the goblins all stopped to watch as their King strode from the room, a murderous intensity in his eyes.

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I know this one was short but there's more to come; I'm actually writing chapter 8 now as I am posting this, so hopefully a new update won't be too far off! Please read and review, I'm always curious to hear what you think (and Jareth is always excited to hear when people see his side of things, not just Sarah's!)


	8. Chapter 8

_My_, you guys are spoiled, two story updates in one night! I'm trying to stay fairly regular with updating this story and "Remembering," so if I go too long without a new chap on either one just give me a bit of a kick via a review and remind me to post!  
And please check out my plush Jareth barn owl (a link is in my profile): Jareth is very excited to hear what you guys think of him in his owl form. (But be sure not to stroke his ego too much, I have to put up with him while I'm writing this!)

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Chapter 8

Jareth strode down the underground tunnels towards the area he knew Sarah and Hoggle were currently traveling. Under normal circumstances, he would have had very little patience with a turncoat, for any who did not wish to stay under his rule could simply leave the Labyrinth for another kingdom. However, under the current circumstances, he was absolutely infuriated by the traitorous act he had just witnessed in one of his subjects, much less one of his subjects given _explicit_ instructions to take the girl back to the beginning of the Labyrinth. He was so blinded with fury, he barely recognized where he was or where he was headed; he seemed to be working on instinct.

He was going to kill Hoggle. Dunk him in the Bog, then string him up in a cage in the Goblin City for all to see as the dwarf slowly died from starvation while smelling his own putrescent stench. While there were still faster and more gruesome torture devices in the dungeon of his castle (sad remnants left from the old days when his ancestors had fought among each other for land and titles), Jareth wanted the little toad to die slowly, so that if he ended up as an owl, he could at least spend days watching the dwarf suffer until he perished.

_All for a piece of plastic rubbish._

Jareth heard the booming voices of the rock guards ahead, and slowed only long enough to fling a crystal down the passageway towards the oncoming pair.

"Uh oh," he heard one of them exclaim.

Eyes flashing, Jareth strode around the corner of the tunnel. Hoggle's terrified expression told him in an instant that the dwarf knew he had crossed the line. Amazingly, though, the dwarf was actually still trying to salvage the situation.

"Your Majesty!" Hoggle exclaimed, as he performed a half-bow, "what a nice surprise!"

"Hello, Hedgewart," Jareth replied, eyes narrowed on the diminutive being before him.

"Hogwart," Sarah interrupted Jareth, as if he might not know the real name of one of his subjects.

"Hoggle!" Hoggle glared at Sarah, correcting her with a boldness he would not direct at the Goblin King.

"Hoggle, could it be that you are helping this girl?" He asked coldly.

"H-h-helping?" stuttered Hoggle, nervously. "In what sense?"

"In the sense that you are leading her towards the castle," Jareth spat, eyes blazing.

"No, no! I was taking her back to the beginning, Your Majesty" Hoggle offered.

"_What_?" Sarah asked, incredulous. She stared at the dwarf as if she couldn't believe her ears.

"I told _her_ I was gonna help her solve the Labyrinth, a little trickery on my part, heh, but actually-"

"What is that plastic thing 'round your wrist?" Jareth interrupted, glancing at the piece of frippery on the dwarf's wrist. He wrinkled his nose as if he smelled something distasteful.

Hoggle looked down and saw the bracelet sitting there, sparkling in the low light. "Oh." Instinctively, he jerked his hand behind his back, then, as if he realized how guilty that made him look, he added "Oh, this!" He nervously fidgeted with the bracelet. "Oh, my goodness, where did _this_ come from?"

"Higgle-"

"Hoggle," the dwarf corrected him.

"Yes.." Jareth said distractedly, as if it was all of no importance anyway. "If I thought for one second that you were betraying me, I'd be forced to suspend you headfirst into the Bog of Eternal Stench."

"No, Your Majesty!" Hoggle quavered, sinking to his knees and clutching at Jareth's leg. "Not the Eternal Stench!" Everyone in the Kingdom knew that the Bog was reserved for the most severe of punishments that could ever possibly be dealt out by the King - a punishment always followed by death.

"Oh, yes, Hoggle!" Jareth replied as he furiously kicked the dwarf off of his leg. "And you, Sarah," he added quietly, his voice deadly calm as he advanced on her like a predatory cat. "How are you enjoying my Labyrinth?" He put his hand on the wall, unnervingly close to her head, and was satisfied when she uncomfortably took a step back away from him. She seemed to consider his words for a moment before she spoke.

"It's a piece of cake," she replied boldly, as she looked back up and met his eyes. Behind Jareth, she heard the dwarf groan in dismay. Apparently the girl did not realize how pissed off the king was.

"Really?" Jareth asked in that same, dead-calm voice. "Then how about upping the stakes, hmm?" He magicked an ornate clock onto the wall in front of her, and she watched in astonishment as he forwarded time several hours. It infuriated him to know that he could not _actually_ forward her allotted time- it was against the Rules set down centuries earlier that he must obey - but perhaps if she thought she was out of time she would give up sooner.

"It's not fair!" Sarah exclaimed as she looked between Jareth and the clock.

"You say that so often," he said as he turned to face her again. "I wonder what your basis for comparison is," he finished, enraged. It galled him to think that this girl was running out of time to save her brother, while he was running out of time to save his wife. They weren't so different, afterall. _Yes, except she was apparently allowed to cheat, while I cannot, _he thought bitterly.

Angry, he suddenly thought of a new plan, something better than Bogging Hoggle and hanging him in a cage until he starved to death. He would simply remove Sarah's knight in rotting leather from the equation _now._

"So the Labyrinth is a piece of cake, is it?" he asked coldly, measuring her up. "Well, let's see how you deal with this little slice." He magicked up a crystal in his hands where it glittered ominously, then he turned behind him and threw it with all his might down the tunnel.

Sarah's mouth fell open as she heard a noise that could only be described like the stirring of a thousand hissing, metallic spiders, and it was growing louder. She could just start to see the glitter of something silver flashing when, beside her, Hoggle gasped.

"Oh no! The Cleaners!"

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Author's Note: Yes, this wasn't a terribly exciting chapter, as they actually stayed with the nearly-truth for most of this part of the movie. However, Jareth is demanding to know where "nothing, nothing, tra la la?" came from. It took me nearly an hour to calm him after he heard that the producers made him say that in the movie.

Please review.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jareth strode through the hedges on his way back to the castle, angrily blasting sections of greenery out of his way, only to have them reform behind him once he had passed. He knew Sarah was athletic enough that she could easily outrun the Cleaners until she came to a fork in the tunnels that she could take to avoid them. Hoggle on the other hand..

_Let that stunted little man try to outrun the Cleaners_, Jareth thought angrily. _With those short legs he hasn't a chance_.

He actually had no idea what would happen once the Cleaners caught up to Hoggle- Jareth had never seen them in action before, as they were also one of the dismal remnants of the old days when the tunnels below the castle had to be as staunchly protected from intruders as the land above them. But Jareth knew that if he ended up trapped as an owl for eternity, he would at least be happy in the knowledge that the man who had helped seal his fate had died a horrible death for his betrayal.

He was still so livid about the treachery acted out by Hoggle, on this his and Olwyn's last and most desperate day of their battle, that for a moment he did not notice the barn owl flying towards him, screeching in alarm. He looked up just as Olwyn landed, claws first, onto his chest, clutching wildly at the leather of his vest while she flapped her wings in fright.

"Olwyn?" Jareth asked as he looked down at her wide, obsidian-black eyes. "What are you doing?"

Agitated, the owl continued to flap her wings, beating him across the shoulders while she shook her head and screeched at him. Jareth gently grasped her wings to her side to stop her from hurting herself in her throes of terror, and beneath her feathery body, he could feel her heart beating so fast it was almost a constant rhythm. Her clawed feet still circled about dangerously, and one talon caught the back of his hand as he held her. He gasped in pain, and watched as a red drop of blood welled up from the cut.

Olwyn stopped struggling in his hands as they both watched the blood run down his hand to land on the stone pavement below, where it was absorbed with an astonishing speed. Jareth met her eyes again saw she was staring at him with such intensity, her black eyes seemed almost watery. Belatedly he realized that he could feel her breathing irregularly, almost as if she were hiccupping, and soft, scared little noises came from her. She shook her head at him again, as if to say _don't_.

The face she was making was almost so human, he thought, it was if she were..

_As if she were crying._

Jareth looked back at his wife, then back down as another drop of his blood joined the first on the ground. It, too, was absorbed quickly by the parched earth. The Labyrinth had tasted blood before, and Jareth knew, without a doubt, that his would not be the last.

"Oh god," he whispered, as he belatedly remembered that the sections of tunnels closest to the castle had been barred off years ago- the section Sarah and Hoggle were currently in. They would be trapped! He had just set a swirling, bladed machinery on _Sarah _as well as Hoggle. While he didn't particularly care about the dwarf at the moment, he knew he could not harm Sarah; she was an innocent! Eselda had even forbade he hurt her- he could have already damned himself and Olwyn to a feathered prison by his actions.

He quickly released Olwyn, then disappeared in a flash of glitter to the tunnels below ground, where Sarah and Hoggle were trapped.

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Jareth had to leap backwards a few minutes in time in order to be able to counter his terrible mistake. Slightly winded, he reappeared unnoticed in the tunnel several yards down from where Hoggle and Sarah were trapped, beating fitfully on a stone-sealed archway. There was a heavy wood and iron gate blocking his path to them, and the Cleaners were mere inches from delivering them a bloody, painful death.

"Push!" Sarah screamed at Hoggle. Their combined efforts had no effect on the stone wall.

Without thinking, Jareth thrust out at the sealed stone wall with all of the Labyrinth's magic behind the force, and it collapsed inward just in time for the pair to scramble out of the way of the twirling blades. Exhausted from exerting so much magic, Jareth staggered against the wall as the Cleaners broke through the iron gate a few yards from where he stood. He struggled to stay upright as his vision went blurry, but he couldn't fight the effects of expending that much magic so quickly.

He collapsed to the stone floor and as his vision started to go black, he could have sworn he saw a silent, smudge of white floating above him, even as the Cleaners sliced through the air towards him.

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**Author's Note**: Dun dun _DUN_! Will Jareth get sliced, diced, and jullienned to bits? (this _would_ be a much shorter story if so..)

*gets smacked upside the head by Jareth*

Alright, alright.. I (might) not do that to him if you review!

**AN2**: Yes, I AM still working on this story! I have not given up on it, but had gotten myself thoroughly stuck in a storyline that I did not like where it was headed, and had to re-work it a bit. We're good now, so hopefully more posts will come at a more respectable pace!


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